Inevitable Change
by mayaaraminta
Summary: Chihiro has returned to the Spirit World, compelled by a dream and against her better judgement, to find all has changed. Struggling to discover the truth, Chihiro must overcome her fears and uncertainties in an adventure unlike any other she has experienced before. (Didn't want to give away too much in the summary! Read to find out more!)
1. Realisation

**DISCLAIMER: The storyline of Spirited Away is not owned by me - it is the property of Hayao Miyazaki and should be respected as such. Equally all characters belong to Miyazaki, unless expressly stated by me at the beginning of the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

_"Chihiro...Chihiro...follow me...Chihiro...SEN!"_

Chihiro woke up with a jolt, sitting upright in bed, small beads of sweat pollinating the regions of her forehead and upper lip. Her breathing came hard and fast, as she tried desperately to recall whatever it was she had been dreaming of. Her memory of it seemed to be fading fast, as only flashes of images passed before her eyes: Yubaba's face, the bath house shrouded in darkness, Haku's face, the waters of the sea, black in appearence due to the absence of light...

"Another dream about the Spirit World," Chihiro muttered to herself, laying back once more against her pillows. She had had dreams similar to this ever since the day she first left that World, triumphanty bringing her parents home with her. Not once had she ever tried to explain to them why she woke up often in cold sweats; she knew they would never _ever_ believe her, let alone understand.

This was the first dream she'd had however, where an auditory aspect had played a role. Not once, in all the 8 years that had passed since her first visit to the Spirit World and the dreams had first began, had she ever _heard _anything. _"Chihiro...Chihiro...follow me...Chihiro...SEN!" _Sen...Sen was the name she was given by Yubaba whilst she worked for her in the bath house all those years ago. She had almost forgotten it, just as she'd almost forgotten her real name of Chihiro during her time in the Spirit World. Why had that name permeated her dreams, when she had not thought of or uttered it for so long?

Chihiro's remaining memories of her time in the bath house were not favourable to her. Despite the mysteries she had seen and the people she had met, the very real fear she had experienced of almost losing her parents forever at the young age of 10 had tainted her view of that World she had left behind. What she did remember was a mixture of gruelling work, little food, and spirits, some good and some bad. Although she did miss Haku, the river spirit who she fell in love with whilst there, she felt content knowing he had got his name back, and therefore was free from Yubaba's power and free to do whatever he pleased, if he should so choose. She was a human, and he was a _spirit_; she had no doubt in her mind that they would never meet again. Until now. A strange feeling had passed over Chihiro since waking from her latest dream. A deep sense that someone outside of dreamworld was calling her: _"follow me..._"

Not once had Chihiro ever tried to find that road through the undergrowth that lead to the Spirit World again. Despite her intense curiousity, fear had prevented her from doing so. What if she entered again, and wasn't as lucky as the previous time in terms of leaving again? That had always been the sole factor keeping her from the Spirit World, yet now, after the sensation that her dream had bestowed upon her, her curiousity began to grow to exceptional new heights. She began to wonder what had happened to the bath house: if Kamaji was still the boiler man, if Lin had ever gotten train tickets, if Haku still remained with Yubaba or had taken advantage of his freedom...

Jumping out of bed, Chihiro opened her bedside drawer with trembling hands. Rifling through the mess inside, spilling paper and junk onto the floor as she did so, she found what she had been looking for - a small, deep purple box. She opened the box slowly, half-expecting it to be empty after so long. Chihiro pulled the hairtye from the box gently, letting the container fall to the ground. The hairtye was the one Yubaba's sister Zeniba had made for her with the help of No-face and Boh, the one that was supposed to keep her safe. Chihiro tied up her hair once again using the hairtye, hair which, once short, had grown almost to waist length. Pulling on yesterday's clothes, she made her way down the stairs of her house, carefully so as not to wake her sleeping parents, and slipped silently out of the house.

* * *

Chihiro stood, stock-still, staring in front of her in shock. It was still there. After all this time, the road her father had taken, mistaking it for a short-cut to their new house 8 years ago, was still there. The undergrowth had grown considerably, and it was clear that cars were no longer able to drive down it and had not done so for many years, yet Chihiro made her way along the road with considerable ease. She was a slight girl of 18, very tall and very skinny, with a boyish frame. Her hair had grown, and her face matured considerably; somewhere deep in her eyes you could see the remains of burning questions and a troubled past.

Keeping her eyes fixed on her feet (as the night was too dark to enable her to walk safely whilst looking ahead), Chihiro walked silently, for what seemed like an age. Finally, she reached the two-sided stone statue her father had almost crashed in to the last time she had been down this road. Ahead of the statue was the archway of a long, dark tunnel, of which Chihiro could not see the end. Standing at the entrance, Chihiro breathed deeply, and ran full-pelt into the darkness, which enveloped her fully. She ran and ran, until she came across a room with high ceilings, decorated only by numerous wooden benches, covered with a thin layer of dust. Here, she slowed down, knowing that within moments she would once again be within the Spirit World. What on _earth_ had compelled her to come here?! Before tonight, returning to the Spirit World had been the last thing on her mind - it was almost as if she had been compelled against her better judgement. A nagging feeling within her told Chihiro that she would regret her decision to carry on, yet something else within her pushed her onwards.

Chihiro stepped for the second time in her life onto the grassy medows of what she knew to be the gateway to the Spirit World. She walked forwards until she reached the beginning of the rundown fair's shops and stalls, before turning around to survey the scene behind her. It was nighttime when she had entered, so of course, the barrier between her world and this one rose immediately as soon as she had set foot on the fair's designated grounds. A wide, dark sea stretched to the horizon, the water eerily still. Chihiro swore that she remembered the outline of a glittering city on the horizon last time she was here, but now: darkness.

Something was wrong. As Chihiro walked amongst the once colourful and vibrant fair shops, which, by this time she thought, should be filled with steaming food and hungry shadowy figures, she saw precisely nothing. Colour was faded - Chihiro could tell this even in the dim light of night - and there was no sign of a single spirit. Something was definitely wrong, she was sure of it. Upon reaching the bridge, Chihiro stopped once more, looking up at what she remembered as the great bath house of the Spirit World, usually at this time of night lit up from head to toe, steam rising from the windows and chimneys, staff and customers alike spilling in and out continously. What once was bustling with soul, was now, like the vast ocean beneath the bridge, dark. After crossing the bridge, Chihiro saw that windows were cracked, some boarded and some missing completely. Debris had built up in front of the main doors of the bath house, and dust had its hold on absolutely everything. Fear and uncertainty rose inside Chihiro, yet she knew she could not leave. Picking a dusty berry from a nearby tree, she popped it in her mouth to keep from disappearing - she knew the rules.

Aside from the abandoned nature of her surroudings, what unsettled Chihiro the most was the silence. It beat down upon her head in angry waves, compressing her temple to temple, _screaming_ at her that something was more than wrong - something terrible had happened.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a small, feeble voice coming from within the shadowy bath house. At first, Chihiro couldn't make out what the speaker was saying, but then they said it again, a little louder this time, but still only a hoarse whisper: _"Chihiro...Chihiro...follow me...Chihiro...SEN!"_


	2. Filling in the Gaps

_**DISCLAIMER: The storyline of Spirited Away is not owned by me - it is the property of Hayao Miyazaki and should be respected as such. Equally all characters belong to Miyazaki, unless expressly stated by me at the beginning of the chapter. Enjoy!  
Reviews, criticisms and ideas for development are greatly wanted and greatly appreciated - help me make this story the best it can be!**_

* * *

_"Chihiro...Chihiro...follow me...Chihiro...SEN!"_

Gingerly, Chihiro edged towards the doors of the bath house, left ominously ajar, towards the sound of the voice calling her name. Brushing the built up leaves, dirt and garbage from the entrance, she craned her neck forwards, trying in vain to discern who the owner of the mysterious voice was.

"Hello?" she called out into the darkness. She could hear her voice echo off the high ceilings within the bath house, a sound that try emphasised just how unusually empty the place was. "Hello?" She tried again. No response. Chihiro was frozen to the spot with fear. She couldn't turn back, she knew that, but somehow she couldn't go forwards either. The courage that had come hand in hand with childhood naivety last time she was her had diminished as she matured - she was much more aware of the dangers her surroundings posed to her than she had been all those years ago.

_What had happened here?!_ Chihiro thought to herself. _Where is everybody? Why is the bath house decending to ruin? Where are the spirits? This _is_ the Spirit World, after all... _Thought after panicked thought streamed through Chihiro's brain and her body and mind tried desperately to coordinate her next movement. She took one more, miniscule step towards the entrance, peering further into the gloom. Still, she could see nothing.

Suddenly, something grabbed her around both wrists, pulling her forwards off her feet and deep into the darkness of the bath house. Chihiro emitted a shrill scream of terror, which was quickly stifled by hands covering her mouth in a vice-like grip. She could hear the doors of the bath house slam shut behind her, and what sounded like numerous bolts, chains and planks being moved into place. Then, silence once more. Chihiro stood in the middle of the entrance hall, still bathed in darkness, heart racing. Her eyes had not yet adjusted to the dimness within: she was unable to see her assailants. After an agonising few moments, just as her eyes had began to adjust, the hall with filled with the sound of a match being struck, and light from an oil lamp high on the left wall illuminated the room. Finally, Chihiro could see properly. Standing less than a metre before her, hands poised in a stance that showed they would be readily used again if she chose to scream, was a familiar-looking boy. Haku was taller than Chihiro remembered - despite her unusual height, he towered over her at around 6 feet, and had cut his once shoulder-length hair short. His face, like hers, had matured too, into the face of what looked like a 20 year old man, but his green-grey eyes had remained the same. The lacked the same lustre and shine they had 8 years ago, but the captivating potential they had had not changed at all.

"Haku," said Chihiro, quietly. "I mean, Kohaku..."

"Please, Chihiro, call me Haku here," came the abrupt response.

Chihiro tore her eyes away from the grown Haku for a moment, to survey the rest of the scene. A handful of bath house workers still remained, in uniforms of which the colour had long since faded. Among the small crowd Chihiro noticed Lin, as well as a few other girls she had once shared a room with whilst working her. She also saw Chichiyaku, the once-arrogant man who had refused her bathwater tockens, with a humbled look upon his face. There was no sign of Yubaba, but a rather large child-shaped Boh sat subdued in one corner, sucking on his thumb.

Chihiro turned her attention back to Haku, her face prominently displaying a desire to know what on earth had happened whilst she had been gone. On cue, Haku began his story:

"There are things you don't know about the Spirit World Chihiro...I'm struggling to decide where to begin. For starters, there is a...higher order here, I suppose similar to your "God" in the Human World. Except here, their presence is not ambiguous. They are omnipresent - as Spirits, we can feel Them always. Until about two years ago. Around then, something went terribly wrong. Their presence just seemed to go out like a light. They..."

"They went off on some sort of stupid "vacation"," piped up Lin bitterly.

"I suppose that's one perspective, yes. This higher order we have in this World...They have been around longer than any of us, longer than any Spirit who lives here. The Spirit World is much larger than your Human World, Chihiro. They wrote the rules, if you will. They oversee us; minimise wars, eliminate wrongdoing, punish perpetrators, all without a word. They keep everything here in working, running order. We all have free will here, of course, but it was never our place to question the overriding rules of our society. Until now.

Now that Their presence can no longer be felt, and none of us have any idea why or where They have gone, some Spirits have decided Their rules no longer apply, and it is here where we come across a dire problem. Some of us, indeed all of us here in this bath house, think that They will return, but that it is imperative whilst They are gone to form some sort of government, some second class of working order, to re-establish the rules that are being broken over and over again. However, some Spirits don't believe They're ever returning, that They have abandoned us to our own devices. To put it in perspective Chihiro, there are Spirits much, much worse than the likes of No-face or even Yubaba in this World. Ones who find glee in war and death, who have powers that could easily thwart even mine.

About a year and a half ago, they came for us. They ranshacked the bath house and took everything. Money, supplies...people. Many of us who tried to fight them off were taken or killed. None of us know why they take captives, but we imagine it is not for any humane purpose. By that point, we had no customers left anyway - many of them were too scared to venture out of their homes. Now, however, we can treat the bath house as a "safe haven" - it is unlikely these Rogue Spirits will ransack the same place twice, so in many respects, we _are_ safe here.

You're probably wondering why _you're_ here, Chihiro. I can tell by the look on your face alone. I have been trying, mainly in vain, to contact you. The only thin connection between this World and yours is through our shared Dreamworld, and it has been through that very medium I have been trying to reach out to you for 2 years now. Finally, after so many futile attempts, I managed to reach you through more than just a display of simple images. I managed to reach you with my voice. It took almost all the strength I have left to compell you here, and it is with regret and shame that I ask you now for your help." Haku fixed his eyes on the floor at this point. "You can refuse, of course you can Chihiro, but now that you're here...Chihiro, there is no way in my power I can re-open the gate between the Spirit and Human Worlds again, at least not for a long, long time - it is with great mortification that I have to tell you that I have trapped you here, but, in many respects, we had no choice."


	3. Decisions

_**DISCLAIMER: The storyline of Spirited Away is not owned by me - it is the property of Hayao Miyazaki and should be respected as such. Equally all characters belong to Miyazaki, unless expressly stated by me at the beginning of the chapter. Enjoy!  
Reviews, criticisms and ideas for development are greatly wanted and greatly appreciated - help me make this story the best it can be!**_

* * *

Chihiro was speechless. She stood, mortified, for several moments, blinking hard as if all that was before her would disappear if she tried hard enough. Had she really heard all that Haku had said correctly? So many questions bristled at the edges of her lips, yet she hadn't the faintest idea what to ask first. Resting her eyes on Haku once more, she began her ruthless questioning.

"Where's Yubaba? Or Zeniba?" she began with. "Surely with their power and yours combined, Haku..."

"No." he said harshly. "No, Chihiro, they can't help reopen the gateway between Worlds. They have their own problems to face. Both of them are renowned as two of the greatest and most powerful witches in the this World, and therefore, as is to be expected, both are off fighting the Rogues, in what seems to be a futile attempt to restore peace. For now, all they are doing is biding us time. Biding us time until we figure out how to initiate some sort of makeshift government to regain order for a while, until you..." he stopped. "Lin, I think Chihiro has probably had enough for one night. Can you take her upstairs for me? She will be bunking with you."

"Almost like old times," Lin laughed sarcastically, as she made a move towards Chihiro.

"No! No, Haku, you can't leave me like this!" Chihiro started shrilly. "I need to know more! I demand to know more before you just cast me aside like this!"

There was something about her wide, panicked eyes that softened the now-hardened Haku for a moment. "Alright. Please, continue asking your questions. If I can answer them to the best of my ability, will you then _please _go to bed?" he looked at her imploringly.

"Why me?" she asked flatly, ignoring Haku's previous request. "Why did you trap me here, Haku? I saved you once - are you under the impression I am able to do it again? As several Spirits mentioned the last time I was here," Chihiro shot a glance at Chichiyaku at this point, "I _am _just a _Human_."

"It is precisely this fact that led me to bringing you here. You are a Human, and a Human is exactly what we are in need of. This is a desperate time for this World Chihiro - bit by bit, we are destroying ourselves. Now that you are here, and not under any contract or spell of any kind like the one Yubaba had over you, there are certain things that we can give to you, show you and permit you to do, things that none of us are able to do ourselves. Certain Spirits have certain abilities to bestow power, but there are, again, rules to how this works. These rules cannot be phsysically broken. Namely, this gift of power cannot be bestowed upon the giver, or upon any other Spirit as such. Humans do not frequent the Spirit World often - Chihiro, you are the first and last Human to visit here for many hundreds of years, who has not been turned into a pig by Yubaba or another such creature by a different witch.

In terms of the situation we have at the moment, and have been battling with for two years now, a non-Spirit Receiver is ultimately our last option. We _need _you, Chihiro, and we need you namely to say yes. That is another of the rules that had to be abided by when bestowing power - the recepient must voice his or her agreement. The remaining Spirits here who have not died or gone Rogue, as a previously stated, must figure out how to initiate some sort of makeshift government to regain order for a while, whilst you, Chihiro, find Them. The Ones who run the higher order, the Ones who have disappeared."

"I thought you said nobody has ever seen Them before?" Chihiro faltered.

"That is, regrettably, true. I never said this would be easy, Chihiro. But we need to try. I will give you the day to sleep on it. Please, consider this proposal, for all our sakes. Lin, now please."

Without another word from either party, Lin gingerly approached Chihiro and took her gently by the arm, leading her from the room, past the long-broken elevator and towards a long, winding staircase.

"I didn't want to bring you here, you know." Lin started, looking sideways at Chihiro. "I knew you wouldn't want to be here. It's unfair, I know it is, plucking you from your own World. Heck, I'd hate it, and all the responsibility that comes with it. It's _huge_! I mean, if you agree and _fail..." _Lin saw the look on Chihiro's face. "I'm not helping, am I? I'm sorry Sen...I mean, Chihiro. We're all pretty stressed out at the moment, as you can probably tell, and Haku...well, Haku's changed a bit. Seeing what he's seen when he's been out helping Yubaba and Zeniba fight, well, it's expected I suppose. Now that you _are_ here though, you will think about it, won't you? Won't you?"

* * *

Chihiro awoke after only a few hours to cold sunlight. Lin and some of the other girls were still sleeping around her, blissfully unaware for a few more hours of the horrors their World was being subject to. Opening the sliding doors of the room, Chihiro stepped silently out onto the balcony. Slipping her legs through the bars of the barrier, she looked out over the ocean.

In daylight, Chihiro could now see that the vast expanse of water, which was once so clear you could see the bottom, was cloudy, and covered by a thin layer of oily film on its surface. The water was still, eerily so, the absence of waves or ripples creating a disturbing effect. Looking out further, Chihiro could make out the train station, where herself, No-face, Boh and Yubird caught a train to Swamp Bottom to see Zeniba 8 years ago.

"The trains don't come anymore, as I'm sure you've guessed." A voice behind Chihiro made her jump. Lin had woken up too, and took a seat beside her old friend. "So much for getting a train ticket out of here," she chuckled gloomily.

"Lin, what _powers_ are everyone talking about? And why does Haku have so much faith in me? I barely saved Haku, myself and my own parents last time - how am I supposed to save the _entire_ Spirit World?!"

"Look, Se-Chihiro, I'm pretty much as clueless as you when it comes down to the details. All I know is, you've gotta tell Haku something tonight, and I'm pretty sure he won't be telling you too much about these gifts of power unless you say yes. From what I've heard...the giving of the "gift" isn't the most _pleasant_ of experiences, and I'm pretty sure he won't want to scare you off before giving you the chance to agree."

Chihiro silently looked out once more across the ocean. Water stretched as far as the eye could see, and, despite the dirt and despair that hung think in the air, the scene was still beautiful. There was something ethereal about the Spirit World, a feeling that you just didn't get back home in the Human World. No matter what was thrown at it, the place was always incredibly divine, Chihiro had to give it that. She had forgotten, in the midst of all her negative memories of the place, just how extraordinary it really was here. Shooting Lin a half-smile, Chihiro got up once more, turned her back on the scene, and headed back inside to bed.

* * *

When she next awoke, night had fallen. Chihiro opened her eyes, half-hoping that she would awake in her room at home to find that all that had happened the night before had been a very vivid, horrible nightmare. But alas, she was faced with the four wooden walls of her sleeping chamber at Yubaba's bath house, as well as a decision she would do anything not to have to make. The other girls in the room seemed to have disppeared - Chihiro assumed they'd gone downstairs to eat something. On her right side, she noticed that Lin had left her some clothes, similar to the pink work uniform she had had the last time she was here. Smiling at the irony of it all, she pulled on the clothes and headed downstairs.

Upon reaching the bottom floor of the bath house, Chihiro was greeted by the remaining worker of the bath house, all seated around a long, wooden table, Boh once again in his corner. At each place, a steaming bowl of white rice had been placed, a glass of dubious-looking water on its side. Haku was nowhere to be seen.

"Over here, Chihiro!" Lin patted the chair next to her. Chihiro took her seat, and scooped a small mouthful of rice into her mouth with her chopsticks. To her surprise, she was ravenous. After very quickly finishing her bowl and downing its contents with the water, Chihiro addressed Lin.

"Where's Haku?"

"Oh, Haku's out patrolling," Lin responded. "He goes out every night before breakfast and makes a few rounds of the perimeters in dragon-form to ensure no Rogues are anywhere nearby. He's meticulous, that boy - ever since the attack on the bath house, he has never failed to make a daily round. Speaking of the devil..." Heads turned as Haku entered the breakfast room. Without a word, he took his seat at the head of the table and began to eat, eyes fixed on Chihiro all the while. Pleading, guilt-installing eyes. Just as everybody had begun to resume their normal convensations, Haku finally spoke.

"Chihiro."

"Yes, Haku?"

"Have you reached your decision?"

"I...I think I have."

All eyes and ears were tuned in towards Chihiro expectantly. She gulped once, and, after what seemed like an age, stood up at her place.

"Yes. My decision is yes."


End file.
